United States Preclearance at Abu Dhabi Airport Set to Operate for All US-Bound Flights

Air travellers on all Etihad Airways flights to the United States from this week will be able to experience the benefits of arriving in the US having precleared US Customs and Border Protection at Abu Dhabi Airport.

From
Thursday 15 January US preclearance will open for the early morning EY103 to
New York JFK and EY183 to San Francisco flights, both of which conveniently
connect with inbound services from Mumbai, Delhi and other cities in India and the
Indian Subcontinent.

The new
early morning US preclearance operation complements the
mid-morning one which caters for Etihad Airways passengers on flights to Chicago,
Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York JFK, and Washington, D.C., who all
proceed through the facility.

Peter Baumgartner,
Etihad Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We’re delighted that from this
Thursday all air travellers flying to the United States from Abu Dhabi will enjoy
the benefits that US customs and immigration preclearance offers.

“Since its opening in
January last year, the US preclearance has been extremely popular with air travellers, particularly those
from the Indian Subcontinent and Middle East region. More than 325,000 people have passed through the facility,
arriving in the United States as domestic passengers.”

The preclearance
process provides passengers with the unique opportunity to pass through all
required checks including US customs, immigration and security conveniently while
in Abu Dhabi before they board their flight to the US, enabling them to avoid
queues on arrival.

Another key benefit of
US preclearance is that baggage security screening meets United States TSA
security standards, allowing air travellers who connect onto a US domestic
flight to have their baggage checked through from Abu Dhabi to their final
destination.

US
preclearance at Abu Dhabi Airport is the only one of
its kind in the Middle East, and the United Arab Emirates’ capital is one of a
small group of airports around the world to offer passengers preclearance into
the US.

During its first
12 months of operation, the US preclearance in Abu Dhabi has improved the passenger experience through
the introduction of automated passport control (APC) kiosks and greater numbers
of officer processing desks.

The self-service APC
kiosks expedite the US entry process for American, Canadian, and eligible visa waiver
program (VWP) international travellers, by providing an automated process
through US preclearance’s primary inspection area.